China has slashed the death rate of newborn babies by almost two-thirds in 12 years by promoting hospital births, research has shown. Deaths fell from 24.7 per 1,000 live births in 1996 to 9.3 in 2008. Only half of women gave birth in hospital at the start of that period, whereas by the end almost [...]
The secretary, it seems, is enjoying a pop-culture moment. For a start, there’s Amor Towles’s bestselling novel, Rules of Civility. Set in 1938 and featuring a secretary who rises out of a law firm typing pool to the top of Manhattan’s publishing world, Rules of Civility shares shelf space with a recently reprinted edition of Rona Jaffe’s 1958 [...]
Under Mediterranean skies, the No 10 blue skies department chanced upon a thought. Its last big idea – curbing maternity rights – had grabbed the wrong sort of attention, and perhaps that’s why the new brainwave is to show some regard for the opinion of women. The shopping list of policies inspired by this impulse, revealed [...]
Sometime in the modish noughties, between the denouement of Britpop and the advent of skinny jeans, the concept of ironic clothing was born. If you’re wondering what that means, simply flick through a copy of a fashion magazine and you’ll notice phrases like “geek chic” being used to describe the garments of attractive celebrities, who [...]
Jonathan Dean reacts dismissively to the news that I am suing the Gender Institute of the London School of Economics, where I was a student (Fear not, male readers, 8 September). “Martin claims he had the misfortune of being subject to a torrent of anti-male discrimination,” Dean writes, adding: “Martin alleges that the course material [...]
Despite the sepia photographs of the prime minister jogging, or tipping, or not tipping, or sitting in an easyJet waiting room, trying to look happy, it seems that women, who initially responded so well to the prime minister’s nice suburban dad act (© Tony Blair and the guy from Outnumbered), don’t like him anymore. He [...]
Inside No 10, parallel operations have been launched to win over disgruntled women voters. The document revealing the anxiety at the heart of government over the polling of women, leaked to the Guardian on Tuesday, was drawn up by Downing Street’s policy unit but commissioned by the deputy PM, Nick Clegg. The Conservatives, marshalled by [...]
Unions are increasing their recruitment activities to target female, black, disabled, LGBT and young workers, according to the TUC. The union’s Equality Audit 2011 revealed that recruitment campaigns targeting young people increased from 29 to 48 per cent between 2007 and 2011. Additionally, union campaigns targeting women’s employment have risen from 38 per cent to [...]
The UK’s small businesses are confident about their recruitment prospects over the next 12 months, giving hope to people looking for IT jobs. ECI‘s growth survey, published yesterday (September 12th), revealed that 74 per cent of companies are expecting to increase their headcounts over the next year, while investment in recruitment, development and quality of [...]